The invention relates to a process for manufacturing miciromechanical components having a part made of diamond consisting of at least one tip, this process being of the kind in which:
a substrate, generally a silicon substrate, is prepared by micromachining using suitable lithographic and/or wet or dry anisotropic etching techniques, so as to form an impression of the desired shape for the part made of diamond, PA1 the part made of diamond is produced by chemical vapor deposition of diamond in the impression and is then separated from the substrate. PA1 a primary film of fine diamond particles suitable to act as seeds for growth of the diamond are deposited on the substrate, on the surface of the impression, before chemical vapor deposition, PA1 the diamond film is then grown by vapor deposition, PA1 and the substrate is then at least partly removed.
The invention relates more particularly, but not exclusively, to such a process for the manufacture of a micromechanical detector for an atomic force microscope or the like.